Zombies, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!
by Everybody's Starry Eyed
Summary: Percy Jackson AU. The zombie apocalypse has struck, leaving Annabeth alone in New York City until she stumbles upon a secure base led by a mysterious, green-eyed boy. Is she ready to fall in love with him or does he have too many secrets for her to handle?
1. Dog Days are Over

**Chapter 1: **Dog Days Are Over

**Rating: **T

**Word Count: **2,200+

**Summary: **Annabeth Chase has been on her for two months resisting the zombie apocalypse. She's run out of steam and doesn't know how much longer she can hold on. She needs a miracle.

**Author's Note: **So after writing Walking Dead prompts for a bit, I've had this idea about applying the zombie apocalypse to another fandom. Of course, writing a story such as that is difficult when you need to have the right type of characters and an interesting web-plot-thing. After I read Mark of Athena, I knew that Percy Jackson was the perfect fandom to use. I'm actually really excited to write this story and I really, really, REALLY hope that I can keep up with it.

Enjoy the first chapter! Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome!

**. . .**

Annabeth ran down the narrow alleyway with a knife held in her tight grip and a backpack slung over her shoulder. She didn't dare look back to see what was chasing her – she already knew what it was.

Coming out of the alleyway, she quickly scanned the empty street, looking for a quick place to hide before the undead got to her. She found an abandoned truck across the road and quickly made her way over to it, avoiding all the dead bodies lying around. The truck was her best bet to lose the trail of zombies following her.

She kicked the window, shattering the glass and unlocking the truck. She slammed the door behind her, making her way to the vacant back trunk. She tried to ignore the stench of the dead bodies piled up all around as she sat down in the dark, small space, holding her breath as she waited for the zombies who were following her to pass.

Annabeth couldn't help but think that if her dad was here, she wouldn't even have to be hiding out in the back of some abandoned truck she found in the middle of a desolated city. He would have her and her two little brothers holed up in some refugee site that he had formed along with all his other co-workers. They would be working together to find a cure as well as keeping each other safe. At least, that's what she _thought _he would do.

But he wasn't with her. Instead, she was alone in a foreign city that was nothing like her San Francisco home. She was trapped hauling ass away from the infected and skipping from place to place. She couldn't even remember the last time she got a good night's sleep, in fear that they would come for her in the middle of the night.

She heard the distant moaning of the zombies as they stumbled past her hiding place. She placed her hand over her mouth, hoping to stifle her heavy breathing. _Please, just let me live, _she pleaded silently with her eyes closed. The groaning started to fade as they continued on, looking for the next meal. She uncovered her mouth letting out a sigh of relief. Loosening her grip on the knife in her hand, she slowly got up from her place on the ground. Quickly, she scanned her surroundings, checking if there was anything valuable to take with her. She found a small pack of first aid supplies stored under the driver's seat.

There was a low growling noise from behind her and before she could react, a zombie tugged on her ankle. She fell to the floor, releasing a small squeal of surprised. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the zombie try to take a big, juicy bite out of her calf. She instinctively kicked it square in the jaw and scrambled to her feet, throwing the knife down into its head before it could even think.

"Fuck," she breathed out, leaning over to pick up her knife. She cleaned it off with the bottom of her grimy shirt before placing it in her jean pocket. _That was way too close, _she thought as she exited the vehicle. She looked up and down the street and found it uninhabited by any infected.

Annabeth walked down the vacant street, keeping her ears and eyes alert for any sudden movement. The sun was dipping towards the horizon and she needed to find shelter soon. She continued to walk until she found an unoccupied pharmacy that still had a few useful things inside. She kicked the door open, holding her knife out to see if any zombies would come out and attack her.

Finding none, she closed the door behind her and made her way through the store, picking up medicine and band aids for later use. A zombie appeared from the next shelf over and she quickly ended it, shoving her knife into its head without even flinching. She continued onwards and found a back room that held a few medical beds that were probably used for sick patients.

"I think I'll stay here for the night," she said aloud to herself as she took off her backpack and set it down beside one of the beds. She closed the door and shoved one of the beds in front of it, hoping to keep any intruders out. For the first time that day, Annabeth was able to breathe. It was beyond stressful being on your own at a time like this. She wished that she had at least one companion to keep her company, to reassure her that it was worth to stay alive.

Back when it first started, her father, who was a scientist, had predicted that the outbreak would only last a few weeks before someone inevitably discovered a cure. Of course, she had believed him but if he could see the world as it was now, she thinks that he wouldn't have jumped to such hasty conclusions.

She often had nightmares about her dad and her brothers. Unfortunately, she had been there when they had turned. They were staying at a hotel in New York because her dad had suddenly been called to help to research the disease. It was a dangerous job, being so close to the infection, but she trusted her dad to be cautious and to return to them. Her step mother had been there too but she seldom stayed at the hotel, preferring to wonder the streets and go shopping with dad's credit card.

One day, her dad came home from work feeling a bit off. Annabeth wasn't too concerned since winter was starting and her dad often caught colds this time of season, but there was something _different _about this kind of cold. He would lie around all day and he could barely speak. She had tended to his needs, giving him medicine and forcing him to drink at least two cups of water a day. Then a week later, he turned into one of _them._

She found him in the bathroom and was able to get her little brothers out as quickly as possible, but she wasn't as lucky. He pushed her to the ground and tried to bite at the flesh on her neck. Annabeth was a strong girl and had been adept to take care of herself so she was able to push her father off of her. But he just kept coming for her, trying to eat her. Finally, she cracked his head on the bathroom sink. She would never be able to get rid of the way he looked with the huge dent in his head.

She didn't have any time to mourn because she heard her brothers shouting down the hall. She made her way out into the hallway to see that her little brothers were being ushered down the stairwell by some of the hotel staff. Her voice was hoarse from screaming at her dad so she could barely call out for them. Before she had any time to think, her brothers were being pushed down like she had been only moments before. Except they weren't able to break free and the zombies were feeding on her flesh.

If she wasn't being pushed down the hallway by one of the room service ladies, she would've thrown up. She was able to get away from the hoard of zombies and found a dumpster to hide out in for the night. Never before had she cried so much in her life. In a matter of five minutes, she had lost her father and her brothers.

Ever since then, Annabeth's been on the run, trying to find some help. She was beginning to believe that she was really the only one left on this planet and that _terrified _her. She was at the end of her rope. Why shouldn't she end her life? The whole world had gone to hell and she had killed too many of infected people to count. She never imagined that she would one day have to wield a gun and shoot the undead.

She lied down on the medical bed, wrapping her sweater tightly around her skinny torso. The winter was starting to kick in and Annabeth was in no way used to it. She lived in California; there was no such thing as seasonal weather there. If the zombies didn't kill her, she was positive the dropping climate would.

Slowly, she closed her eyes, hoping to at least get in a few hours of sleep before she was awoken by the moaning of the zombies. Behind her closed eyelids, she saw her father slumped on the bathroom floor with rotten blood oozing out of his head, murmuring her name. Suddenly his eyes opened and he was on her again except this time she was in no shape to fight him off. He dropped his head and took a hearty bite out of her neck, making her cry out in horror.

She shot up in her bed, breathing heavily as she realized that it had only been a nightmare. _A terrible, terrible nightmare, _she thought. She lay back on the cot, brushing her unruly hair out of the way. Closing her eyes again, she tried to pretend that she wasn't in this shit hole of a place. She was back in California with her dad, her brothers, and her horrid step mother. She thought of the warm weather and the beach outside her house and the Italian cuisines her dad always made. Shortly, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

. . .

A few hours later, she was awoken by the noises coming inside the pharmacy. She scrambled out of bed and threw her backpack on her shoulders, pulling out her knife in case she needed to defend herself. Quietly crawling to the door, she leaned against it and heard muffled sounds. Hopefully if she stayed where she was, the zombies would be gone and she could stay for a little bit longer if she wanted.

She heard one of the shelves fall over. _What the hell? _"Piper!" she heard someone yell. "What the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Oh, shut up," another responded, "there are no geeks anywhere in the vicinity. We can handle ourselves." The first person didn't respond, instead deciding to continue on with her earlier activities.

_People? _Annabeth thought baffled. _There's no one that there are other people just ten feet away from me. _She could feel her heart beating faster at the prospect that she wouldn't have to face this problem alone anymore. She could finally depend on someone else to get food and find shelter and fight off the undead. _But they could be dangerous, _the logical part of her brain thought, halting her from moving the bed that blocked the door. Annabeth was positive that she could take down anyone, but taking on two people at once was a little risky.

_Do you want to be alone for the rest of your short life? _Her mind questioned, persuading her to shove the bed out of the way. It clattered to the floor loudly, alerting the two others that they were not alone. She heard them make their way towards the back room where she was hiding. Cautiously, she held her knife in a defensive stance before opening the door quickly.

The three girls glanced at each other, all of them with some sort of weapon pointed at someone. They stared Annabeth down, confirming that she was indeed not a zombie but an actual living human being. Slowly, they lowered their weapons and backed away from her, showing that they meant no harm.

"Are you bitten?" a girl with short, black hair asked, gazing over every inch of her body to make sure she wasn't infected.

"No." she answered hastily, relieved that she had found _someone_.

The two glanced at each other, speaking without words. Annabeth felt anxious as the tanned skin girl with braided hair looked her over again. She began to shuffle her feet and fidget with her hands, waiting for them to say something.

"Are you alone?" the tanned girl asked.

"Yeah, I lost my family a few weeks ago." She admitted.

They didn't say anything, knowing that any condolences could not make up for what any of them had been going through.

"You've survived this long on your own?" the short haired girl asked again. She nodded her head vigorously, taking in the impressed expression of the girl. "What do you think. Piper?"

Piper looked at her again, a smile ghosting her face, "I think she can come."

"Come where?" Annabeth asked in confusion.

"Don't worry, it's safe. It's our base." Piper said, turning to leave the pharmacy.

The distinct moaning of the zombies came around the corner, making the trio stop dead in their tracks. They quickly ducked behind the shelves, hiding from the herd that came into view. Annabeth leaned her head against the metal shelf, _Can't a girl get a break? _

"Dammit," the girl with the short hair said, peaking around the shelf. There were about twenty zombies waltzing around the streets, "I told you, Piper!"

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes, "let's not forget that time in the grocery store."

"Are you ever gonna let that go?"

"Hey!" Annabeth whisper-shouted, gaining both of their attentions, "Can we focus on getting out of here alive?"

"Newbie's right," the short haired girl stated, "we need a plan."


	2. Violet Hill

**Chapter 2: **Violet Hill

**Rating: **T

**Word Count: **3,800+

**Summary: **Piper, Thalia, and Annabeth arrive at the abandoned warehouse and Annabeth has to decide whether she is going to stay or leave.

**Author's Note: **Before I say anything else, I would just like to say thank you. Never in a million years did I think that this story would get such a positive response so quickly. Thanks to all who have followed, favorited, or reviewed my story; it really means a lot to me.

This chapter, I had a little bit of difficulty writing. This chapter is sort of the foundation of the story so if I screw up this chapter, basically I've messed up the rest of the story. There was a lot of rewriting in this one (I think I rewrote the scene where Percy and Annabeth meet at least three times) and it took a lot longer than I thought it would. Hopefully, I didn't royally screw up. Thanks for reading!

**. . .**

Annabeth was pretty sure that this was the day she was going to die.

Their plan was a sure-fire way to her death bed, with only the slim chance that they would be able to make it out in one piece. She checked her backpack one last time before they made their one way trip to the grave yard. Switching out her knife for her gun, she turned the safety off and counted the number of bullets she had left. _Only eleven, _she mentally noted, _make them count._

Annabeth glanced over at the two other girls who were preparing to run just like she was. Piper placed the last of the medical supplies into her backpack, hefting it onto her shoulders. The short-haired girl, Thalia, attached a knife to her belt and restocked her gun again. She could feel the uncertainty among the group; their plan was set up for failure but they didn't have much of a choice.

"You ready for this, Newbie?" Thalia asked, flicking the safety off on her gun.

She sighed, feeling the anxiety rising in her chest, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Piper?" she said, turning to her companion, "you know what you need to do?"

She gulped, a nervous smile coming onto her face, "Yeah, I live for this kind of stuff."

Thalia stood up from her crouched spot on the floor, cocking back her gun, "No turning back now, ladies."

And just like that, she fired the first bullet through the glass window, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces. The hoard of zombies turned to look at the noise, spotting their breakfast standing in the middle of the abandoned store. Without another word, Piper dashed to the front of the store and jumped through the space where the window had been. She was supposed to be the bait to lure the geeks away from Thalia and Annabeth so they could escape through the side door.

Thalia took hold of her wrist and roughly tugged her towards the quick exit that lead out to another alleyway. They shimmied along the walls, hoping that Piper was doing a good enough job so that they were good to go. Just then, they heard two shots ring out from the front of the store. If there was one thing that Annabeth knew about Piper, it was that she was good bait.

They made their way out into the open space behind the pharmacy. There was a narrow path that wrapped around the three adjacent buildings where they promised to rendezvous with Piper. Of course, their plan was bound to be interrupted when a few zombies stumbled out of the alleyway behind them. The pair whipped around and took out the small group of zombies with their guns.

Unfortunately, that only led more zombies to their location, which is the exact opposite of what they wanted to happen. Piper tried in vain to lure them back towards her as the gun rang out five times in the cold, winter air. It was too late; a huge group of zombies were approaching them and they barely had any time to think.

Instinctively, Annabeth reached out and pulled Thalia down the path, "Come on!" she shouted, booking it to their meet-up point. Thalia was close on her tail, trying to avoid the undead at all costs.

Piper luckily was waiting for them with the pair of bikes that they brought before. The sight of the bikes fueled the girls to sprint even faster to their escape route. "Hop on!" she demanded as they got closer. Annabeth could tell that she was anxious to go, her hands fidgeting on the handlebars.

Suddenly, she fell forward, scrapping her shin on the asphalt. She could feel the rotten breath of a zombie on her back as she tried to recollect herself. Quickly she flipped over and shot the zombie square in the face, not wasting any time in getting up. She stumbled over to Piper's bike and sat on the handlebars. Without a second thought, she peddled down the isolated street away from the zombies at an alarming speed.

For a long moment, it was silent among the trio as they caught their breaths. _We made it, _Annabeth thought giddily, the first smile in months appearing on her face. "How the hell did that happen?" Thalia shouted against the roaring wind.

Annabeth snuck a glance over at her, seeing that she was wearing a similar grin as well. "I have no idea," Piper replied, slowing down the bike to a stop. She hopped off the handlebars and looked at her two companions.

"Why are we stopping?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"We're not gonna bike all the way there," Thalia scoffed, rolling her bike towards a rusty, blue pick-up truck. "that's like, fifteen miles to bike."

Piper followed her, lifting her bike and putting it in the back next to the other one. She kicked up the door and made her way to the driver's seat, "Are you gonna come or are you just gonna stand there?"

Annabeth didn't need to be told twice.

. . .

After a very awkward ten minute drive, they arrived at the "base." It was literally in the middle of nowhere; it was located next to an abandoned parking lot and what used to be a field of grain. The place was formidable with its metal walls and securely locked windows and doors. It was an old warehouse that was rusting and falling apart. Some of the roof was partially missing and some of the windows were boarded up with large wood panels.

They parked the truck in between a white van and a black escalade. Piper turned off the ignition and popped open the door, sliding out with Annabeth on her tail. She was in awe that she had finally found a place that was relatively safe. All those months hiding in dumpsters or sleeping on the cold linoleum floors of abandoned department stores were done. No more anxiety attacks or sleepless nights where she waited for the infected to strike. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Welcome to our headquarters, Newbie." Thalia said with a smug look on her face. Annabeth didn't reply as they walked to the entrance, Piper taking the lead. There was some sort of electronic panel located next to the door where she typed in a special code. She wondered how in the world that thing was working; after the zombies had taken over, electricity had vanished.

The front door made a deep noise, like a heavy lock was being taken off. Piper hauled open the door, inviting Annabeth into the metal warehouse. The air was a bit a warmer but it still seemed freezing to her. The front room was huge; the ceiling was at least twenty feet above them and there were several doors off to the sides. Thalia shut the door behind her and put the bolt in place, securing the entrance.

"Hey, you guys took your sweet time." A blonde haired boy commented, walking over to them. He was muscular and had crystal clear blue eyes that made her feel like he was looking into her soul. It was a bit unnerving.

"We ran into some trouble." Piper responded, smiling at the handsome boy.

"That's an understatement," Thalia muttered.

"Whoa," the guy said, finally realizing that there was a third party member, "who is this?"

"Annabeth," she introduced herself, sticking her hand out for him to shake.

"We found her hiding out in the pharmacy we were raiding," Piper added, "she's been surviving on her own for several weeks now."

"Impressive." He said, giving her a smile that made his blue eyes shine. She quickly looked away, his good looks giving her goose bumps. "Do you think the boss will be okay with this?"

Thalia glared at him, "If he has anything to say, he can come to _me._" Her voice was as cold as ice and it made Annabeth involuntarily shiver.

He merely laughed, "Whatever you say, Thalia." She rolled her eyes, punching him in the shoulder as she walked by with Piper on her tail. "I'm Jason, by the way. I guess I'm the one that's supposed to show you around."

Annabeth didn't respond as he led her down the main hallway until they reach a door that resembled a janitor's closet. _A03 _was written on the front in white paint. Jason opened the door to reveal a small, dark, empty space without any windows. It smelt like mold and the air was damp and humid.

"This is where you'll be staying, once we get a bed and Leo looks at it." He said, slipping his hand into the pocket of his jeans. She nodded, deciding not to mention that she was a little claustrophobic.

They stepped out of the room and he closed the door behind him, leading her down the hall. He turned to the right and that hall opened into a larger space, with several tables lined up into one long line. "This is where we have our meals and also this is where most of our meetings take place."

"Meetings?" she questioned. Were they some special ops team or something?

"Yeah, we talk about supplies we need and other stuff." He said, ending it uncertainly. Annabeth could tell that he wasn't telling her everything, but she let it go. She had only been there for fifteen minutes; she didn't expect them to spill _everything _to her.

"You guys really have some organization going on here," Annabeth commented impressed, "are you the leader?"

He smiled, "I'm more of the co-leader. The guy who leads this place is named Percy. You might meet him later, _if _he shows up for the meal."

They walked out of the secluded area and headed down the hallway again, stopping in front of a bigger door. Annabeth could hear a soft hum coming from it as well as a few _clangs _and _clunks. _He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. Suddenly the door swung open, revealing a young guy with brown curly hair and tan skin. A pair of goggles was attached to his head and his face was covered in ash and grime.

"Well, _hello _there." He said suavely, looking Annabeth up and down."Jason, how come you haven't introduced us before?"

"My apologies," he said mockingly, "Annabeth, this is Leo. He's our engineer." She nodded at him and he winked at her, making her giggle, "Anyways, _Leo,_" Jason said, gaining his attention finally, "can we come in?"

"Yes, step into my humble abode." he said deeply, opening the door so that they both could squeeze in. Lined along the walls were generators that hummed and made whizzing sounds. "What do you guys need?"

"Wait, are these _generators?_" she asked flabbergasted, still looking around the room.

"What, do you think these lights run on their own?" Leo said teasingly, hitting one of them with his wrench.

"We go out and scavenge for old generators to keep the place a little bit warm and so we have some lights at night."

"Also so we can use our kicking security system." Leo added, crouching down and fixing one of the bolts on a nearby generator.

"You made that thing on the door?" she said surprised as he nodded. He smiled smugly as he saw the amazed look on her face.

"I need you to put some lights in her room." Jason said, getting straight to the point.

"No problemo," he responded, "I'll have it done in an hour."

"Thanks, Leo."

They exited the generator room and Jason looked at her, "Well, you're set up now. So, I guess I'll see you around."

"Wait," she called out. He turned around, a questioning look on his face, "am I just supposed to stay now? Lounge around like nothing's wrong?"

"Well –"

"And no one even asked if I wanted to stay!" she exclaimed, "I don't even think I could handle a place like this, you guys depend on each other so much. Do you not even worry about the undead anymore?"

"Annabeth –"

"I think it might just be better if I leave," she concluded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, Jason and Annabeth, dinner's ready. I heard Grover made spaghetti." Piper said as she passed by, smiling at the pair.

"Thanks, Pipes," he said, returning the gesture, "We'll be there in a second."

She walked away towards the area that Jason had showed her earlier. Jason looked at her for a long moment, "Just stay for dinner. If you want to leave, we'll let you leave."

Glancing around her, she saw that the area around her was absent of people. She sighed, looking back at Jason, "Fine."

They walked to the mess hall in silence, Annabeth deep in thought. _Why did I come here in the first place? It was stupid, I shouldn't have let my guard down. I do better on my own. _After enduring the awkward silence, they arrived at the secluded corner. The long table that had been vacant of people earlier was filled to the brim with bodies. _Had there been this many people before? _

Suddenly, the table went deadly silent as they gazed at the obviously new person to the group. She heard them whisper about her, asking questions. She felt her cheeks flush as Jason led her to the head of the table where he usually sat. The crowd resumed talking and stuffing their face with stale noodles.

They sat down, Jason next to Piper and Annabeth beside Thalia. He leaned over and whispered something in Piper's ear that made her giggle. "Sickening, isn't it?" Thalia whispered to her as she ate some of her noodles.

"Are they together?" she asked quietly as she saw Piper whisper something to Jason.

"Nah," she replied, taking a sip from her water bottle, "I guess those kind of things are trivial at a time like this."

Annabeth nodded, finally taking her first bite of food. It was a little bit crunchy and hard to swallow, but it was better than anything she could find on her own.

"Hey, Percy!" Jason called as he looked to his right. Annabeth followed everyone's gaze to find a tall, handsome guy with dark hair and sea green eyes. He smiled at everyone as he made his way towards Jason. The first word that came to mind as she stared him down was _charismatic_; he seemed to get along with everyone and people looked up to him. _No wonder he's the leader here, _she thought as he took the seat at the head of the table_. _

"Wow, I'm surprised you actually showed up." Thalia commented offhandedly.

"Yeah," he said sheepishly, "figured I could use a break."

"That's awfully _different _of you," she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Shut up," he said, digging into the spaghetti. Okay, Annabeth takes back the charismatic thing. The way he stuffed his face with noodles was gross and she looked away, embarrassed for him.

"Have you found out anything yet?" Jason asked in a low tone, not wanting anyway else to overhear him.

Percy swallowed, "Not really," he sighed, "most of the research I've collected is worthless. It's all different, like there's no definitive answer."

"I'm sure you'll find something," Jason reassured, patting him on the back.

"Piper," Percy called out, gaining her attention, "do you think you could go to another research center tomorrow?"

"Sure." She replied, glancing down at her empty plate and tucking a stray hair behind her ear. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with the prospect of going out again into the open, risking her life for what seemed to be worthless research.

"Some of the research is helpful, but it's too general. It doesn't even mention how the disease started, so we have no idea if it's air-born or not." He said, running his hand through his hair hopelessly.

"It starts in the brain," Annabeth spoke up, gaining the four of their attention. She cautiously glanced up, taking in everyone's reaction. She looked to Percy who had shock written all over his face; apparently, he hadn't even realized she was there. "The first of them got it because of some drug that they got high off of. No one knows what the drug is because it's impossible to track a person's eating after it's turned."

They were stunned into silence as Annabeth continued to eat her meal. She wasn't hungry anymore; she only ate to pretend that she didn't know the others were obviously staring at her.

"How do you know that?" Percy asked eagerly. She looked up into his deep green eyes that stared back at her own. If she really wanted to, she could stare at them forever. They reminded her of the beaches in California and the way the ocean curled around her ankles.

She snapped out of it and answered, "My dad was a scientist who researched the disease. That's the only reason why I'm stuck in New York right now."

"Do you have any of his research?" he asked, pressing on with the matter.

"No, most of it was top secret. I only knew because I heard him talking on the phone about it." She answered, brushing her hair out of her face nervously.

It was silent amongst the four as they thought about the information Annabeth had given them. Around them, people excitedly chattered away about pointless things, like their favorite foods or where they had lived pre-apocalypse.

"Do you know where his research is?" Percy asked finally.

"Yeah, I think I do, but it's locked in his computer or something. I have no idea how to get it." She replied, looking at her empty plate.

"Could you possibly go with Piper to retrieve it? It would really mean a lot to us," he pleaded, his green eyes looking deeply into her gray ones.

She looked away quickly and said, "Sure."

Everyone around the table look relieved, but Annabeth felt anything but. She felt like she was being suffocated the longer she stayed here. They all acted like there was nothing wrong and that the zombies were nothing to fear. It made her feel queasy.

Slowly, everyone started to disperse from the mess hall, including Annabeth who made her way to her room. She caught Percy's eye and he smiled brightly at her, making her blush a bit. She immediately looked away and paced to her room quickly. _What the hell is wrong with me? _

. . .

Annabeth was leaving and that was that.

She waited in her room – which had been newly lighted thanks to Leo – until everyone had gone to their respective quarters. Packing her backpack, she made sure that she wasn't leaving anything behind because there was no way she was coming back here.

It's not that she _wanted _to go out and fight the zombies voluntarily. The fact that everyone was so dependent on each other made her feel uncomfortable. The moment anyone lets down their guard is the moment that he or she dies. Annabeth didn't want that to happen to her; she was going to make it post-apocalypse.

Percy was unsettling on his own. He seemed so eager to find research, as if his life depended on it. Most of her dad's research seemed pretty dead end to her because whenever he returned to the hotel, he looked defeated. She doubted that Percy – who probably didn't have a PhD or any proper schooling – could really do anything with such high end information.

Quietly, she opened the door and looked around the dark hallway, checking to see if anyone was lurking around. She closed the door silently behind her and pulled her backpack onto her shoulders, walking slowly so she didn't wake anyone or draw attention to herself.

"Going somewhere?" Annabeth mentally cursed herself as she heard the deep voice from behind her. Gradually, she turned around and came face to face with none other than Percy. She crossed her arms and glared at him, but he didn't flinch.

"Why do you care?" she retorted.

"Because I think we could really use you. Your obviously smart and you must be very skilled if what Jason told me is true." He said, taking a step closer towards her.

"Really? And what was it that he said about me exactly?"

"Just that you managed to survive on your own for several months." He said, a ghost of a smile on his face, "That's very impressive, in my book."

It was silent between the pair as they stared each other down. Neither made any move to back off or leave. Annabeth looked him up and down; he wore an orange t-shirt with jeans and converse. His dark hair was at the perfect length and it highlighted the green in his eyes.

She snapped out of it, "What would you know about that?"

"Before I found this place," he began, shifting his feet slightly, "I got separated from my mom. I was alone for a few days and it was the scariest shit I've ever been through. Then I met Grover and we found this place."

She stared at him in a disbelieving manner. _How nice that he only was unprotected for a few days, _she thought cynically. She didn't like anything about where this conversation was going. She felt like he was going to do anything to persuade her to stay and use her for her intelligence or something like that.

"Annabeth," he sighed, taking another step towards her, "obviously you've been through hell and I get that. This place is safe and we all protect each other. Just give this place a chance. You need us just as much as we need you."

Uncrossing her arms, she sighed deeply. She looked at the metal walls of the warehouse and the boarded up windows. She noticed that there were two people up in the rafters, guarding the door with their guns. Then she remembered the metal doors and how Leo had practically stuck his middle finger up to the apocalypse by keeping the electricity in the building. She thought of Piper and Thalia's kindness and how they brought her here without any questions, even though it could have been dangerous.

Maybe she did need this place.

"When do you want to leave tomorrow to go get my dad's research?" she asked, giving in.

A big smile stretched across his face, "A little bit after dawn. Piper will come and wake you up."

She nodded, walking forward and pushing past him to return to her chamber. She could feel his eyes on her back as she sauntered away and opened the door to her room.

_This better be worth it, _she thought as she lay down on the blanket that Jason had given her to sleep on for the night. She closed her eyes and for the first time in a while, she dreamed of the ocean.


	3. Till the Casket Drops

**Chapter 3: **Till the Casket Drops

**Rating: **T

**Word Count: **4,700+

**Summary: **Annabeth, Percy, Piper, and Jason leave early in the morning to investigate Annabeth's father's research. They find something unexpected that could change everyone's lives.

**Author's Note: **I've been trying to get this chapter out all week, but I've been so busy since it's almost break. I promised myself that I would finish this chapter tonight because I feel terrible about taking so long to update! I hope you enjoy this chapter, there's a little bit of suspense (or an attempt at it) and some indirect Percabeth moments.

**. . .**

Annabeth woke the next morning with a start. There was a loud banging on her door and she quickly reached for her gun, aiming at the noise. The banging stopped and she looked around to find that she was in the room at the warehouse. She released the breath she didn't know she was holding as she got up from the cold floor to answer the door.

Piper stood in the doorway with her shiny brown hair in a French braid with the same clothes from before. She carried a duffle bag over her shoulder and held a jacket in her hand. She offered a smile, "Morning, hope you slept well."

Annabeth merely nodded as she retreated to her room and threw her sweater on over her sports bra. She followed Piper out of the room and into the meeting quarters where Percy and Jason were waiting for the pair. They stood on opposite sides of the table, looking over a piece of parchment paper.

They approached the guys and they looked up just in time to see them coming. Percy flashed a smile which she weakly returned before looking at the map on the table. It showed all the routes in the New York area as well as some words here and there.

"Good morning, Annabeth." Jason greeted. She only grunted in reply, taking one of the markers next to her and circling their destination. The trio crowded around her to look at the location they would be heading to. It was about twenty minutes away from here by car, although with the zombie population running around, it could take longer.

"Great, so we can just cut through the city and –"

"No," Annabeth cut Jason off, "the city is swarming with geeks. We have to go around, which should only take an extra five minutes."

"Alright, if you say so. You have the most field experience." Jason said, folding up the map and unzipping the duffle bag. Inside was filled with guns and ammunition, along with a few first aid supplies tucked in the bottom. Annabeth's eyes widened at the discovery; _where did they get all that ammunition? _She had to save her bullets in case of an emergency because they were scarce in the world now.

Thalia entered the room, eyeing the occupants suspiciously. She continued on her way, grabbing a bottle of water from the storage supplies kept in the corner. Percy walked over to her and stopped her from exiting.

"I need you to watch the warehouse while we're gone. We should be back by late afternoon if things go according to the plan." He told her.

She looked at him skeptically, "You expect _me _to take care of everything while you're gone?"

"You've done it before and Nico can help you." He responded, "Actually, where is he?"

"I have no idea, he's been gone for a few days but you know Nico. He always does that." She said, stepping around Percy and exiting the quarters, "I'll take care of it." She threw over her shoulder and then she was gone.

"Everyone ready to go?" Percy asked with a determined look in his eyes as he looked at his small ops team. Everyone nodded as they gathered their supplies and left the meeting hall. Leo unlocked the front door and just like that, they were on their way.

They walked outside into the cold, December air, making Annabeth involuntarily shiver. Piper noticed and tossed her the baggy, green jacket in her hand. She pulled it on quickly, reveling in its warmth.

"We should take the van, it'll be easier to carry our ammunition and it'll make for an easy getaway in case we run into trouble." Piper announced, pulling the key out of her pocket.

"You seem to know a lot about all this stuff." Annabeth acknowledged.

"Yeah, I do all the trips for supplies and stuff. Sometimes I bring Thalia along but other than that it's just me." She said as she threw the duffle in the back.

"Why do _you_ get the supplies?" Annabeth asked. She had noted the look of anxiety on the girl's face last night at dinner when she was asked to look for the research. If she was so uncomfortable with it, why did she insist on doing it?

Jason came up behind her and threw his arm over her shoulder, "She's the fastest."

Piper only shrugged in agreement, giving her a nervous smile. They all hopped into the van and Piper put the key into the ignition, making the engine roar to life. She pulled out of the parking lot and started to head towards the destination at around eighty miles per hour.

Percy and Annabeth were crouched down in the back while Jason and Piper took the front seats. She pulled out her backpack and checked her supplies, pulling out her gun to count the bullets. She could feel Percy's eyes on her the whole time and it made her feel nervous. Her hands grew clammy and as she tried to slip the last bullet back in, it rolled out of her fingers.

He reacted quickly and picked it up before it could roll away. He gingerly placed it back in her hand and tossed her a smile. She returned it briefly before slipping the bullet back into the gun. The rest of the ride, she avoided looking at the mysterious leader of the warehouse. There was something about him that made her heart beat faster and made her hands sweaty.

Piper hit the brakes suddenly, throwing everyone forward. She turned around in the driver's seat and looked at Annabeth, "Is this the right place?"

She peered through the window to see the tall skyscraper that towered over the buildings around it. Some of the glass windows were shattered and she could tell the front doors had been boarded up unsuccessfully. She nodded her head vigorously, sliding open the side door and stepping out of the vehicle. The others followed suit, slamming the doors behind themselves. Piper grabbed a few weapons from the duffle and passed them around, stuffing two extra hand guns into her belt just in case.

Cautiously, they approached the building, looking around to see if there were any zombies staggering around. Annabeth walked up to the boarded door and started to pull at the wooden frame. It creaked under the pressure as she tugged harder until it finally fell off. She peaked into the lobby, making sure the coast was clear.

She waved her hand signaling that the area was safe. Percy stepped in first followed by Annabeth. The lobby was dark and the stench of dead bodies was everywhere. Many of the couches were overturned and there was glass all over the floor. Carefully, they stepped over the bodies and shards of glass as they made their way to the stairwell.

"Where is your dad's research center?" Percy asked, turning around to look at her.

"It's somewhere on the twelfth floor." She responded.

Everyone nodded as Jason opened the door to the stairwell. The smell was even stronger in here; it suffocated the group and forced them to hold their breath. Quickly, they ran up the stairs to the twelfth floor, avoiding all the corpses strewn on the stairs.

Once they opened the door, they were able to breathe again. Granted, it didn't smell any better, but it wasn't as bad as the stairwell. Annabeth took the lead and walked towards the left, looking for her dad's research center. There was a pair of glass doors that were boarded up heavily, with a lock strapped around the door handles.

They got to work on pulling off the wooden boards but were stuck with the lock. The chains wrapped around the handles tightly and there was no way that they would be able to guess what the code was. Annabeth crossed her arms, trying to think of a logical way to get into the room.

Suddenly, Percy stepped forward and kicked the door, shattering the glass into millions of pieces. The sound was earsplitting in the silence of the building, making the other three wince.

"What the hell was that?" Annabeth yelled, looking around the premise to see if any zombies were attracted to the loud noise. "Are you _trying _to get us killed?"

He ignored her, carefully stepping into the room. Piper and Jason followed without question. Annabeth rolled her eyes and trailed after the trio, looking around her every once in a while to see if there were any geeks around.

The room had white walls and tile floors with several lab tables pushed all over the room. A few corpses were lying around, probably from when the zombies had invaded this place the first time. She shuddered, thinking that any one of these could be her dad, but she knew they weren't. She had taken care of him herself.

The team split up and searched the room, opening cabinets and scavenging for any first aid supplies. Jason kicked open one of the locked closets that was filled with glass containers of water and brains. He faltered a little bit upon the sight, "What the hell is _this_?"

The other three gathered around the closet and gazed at the containers. They were categorized by color and shape. One half of them was a light pinkish red and was tightly kept together. They sunk to the bottom of the container and only bobbed a little bit. The other half of the containers was another story; they were a dark brown color and seemed to be rotting. Strands of the organ were falling off and floating around in the water.

"This is officially messed up." Piper declared, walking away from the closet to continue searching elsewhere.

Slowly, Jason closed the door and they all tried to forget the horrifying sight they had just encountered. Annabeth examined one of the metal carts, which had a few x-ray pictures scattered on the bottom shelf. She picked them up and held them where there was the most light. It showed the stages the brain went through when it died and then was reborn as a zombie.

Percy walked up behind her and pointed at the x-ray, "What is that?"

"It shows what a normal brain looks like and then it shows what one of the zombie brains looks like. At least, that's what I think it is." She responded, looking over at him. He seemed captivated by the pictures and gently grabbed them from her fingers, examining them closely. His eyes were a brighter green then she remembered as they gazed over the x-rays in pure fascination.

She blushed a little bit when she caught herself openly gawking at Percy and tried to busy herself with something else. Walking away, she approached one of the cabinets and opened it, finding a whole bag of first aid supplies. She pulled them out and handed them to Piper, who looked at her appreciatively.

"Guys, check this out." Jason called, gaining their attentions. He was standing in front of one of the big metal cabinets that had been locked. Somehow he had picked the lock and opened it, revealing the bottles that were held inside.

"Are these prescription bottles?" Piper asked, taking one and rolling them in her hand.

"What do they need these for?" Jason asked, grabbing another one from the cabinet and popping it open.

"Annabeth," Percy said, looking at the cabinet, "didn't your dad say something about an unknown drug that caused the disease to start?"

"Yeah, at least that's what he said on the phone." She concurred.

"Maybe one of these is that drug!" he exclaimed.

"Percy," she began, looking at the cabinet as well, "there are hundreds of prescriptions here. I doubt we're gonna find the right one."

He sighed, crossing his arms stubbornly. Looking over to the metal doors, he found that there were several papers tacked to the door. He grabbed one and started to read it, his eyes brightening as they traveled further down the page.

"What is it, Perce?" Jason asked, peering over his shoulder to see what the paper said.

"They're results of the drugs they've used in their trials." He said eagerly, grabbing another page from the door.

"Why does that matter?" Piper asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Because," he began, finally looking up from the documents, "it shows which ones were more successful than others."

The light bulb in Annabeth's brain went off, catching onto Percy's point, "Meaning that we don't need to take them all, we just need the ones that were most successful."

"Exactly!" he concluded, beaming at her proudly. She smiled at him, her heart fluttering a little bit at the sight of him. He read off the drugs that they needed to take back to the base and Piper stuffed them into her bag.

There was a low, growling noise coming from the hallway. Everyone froze in their actions and looked around to see where the sound was coming from. A couple of zombies stumbled into view, heading towards the office.

"Fuck," Jason muttered, pulling out his gun and shooting one of them square in the head. "Boss, we need a plan."

Percy looked around the room hurriedly, trying to find the safest exit route. Finding none, he turned back to the group and said, "We're gonna have to shoot our way out of here. Follow my lead."

He swiftly pulled out his gun and shot two zombies in the head in three seconds flat. They quickly followed him as he exited the room, taking out the geeks that were nearby. He pulled the door open only to find a hoard of them climbing the stairs.

Without hesitation, he kicked the nearest one over the railing and took out the few that were staggering up the first flight of stairs. Annabeth was close on his tail, taking out the ones further down the stairwell. Slowly, they descended down the staircase as they took out more zombies.

They made their way to the fifth landing before the lobby when Jason cried out, "I'm out of bullets!"

Percy took out another zombie before yelling, "Piper!"

She hastily pulled one of the small guns out of her belt and handed it to him. Again, he took out the zombies and they were able to make it down another landing.

Annabeth heard the terrifying click of her gun, signaling that she was out of ammo. "Percy!" she called over the ringing the bullets created once they clashed with the rotten flesh of the zombies. He glanced back at her briefly, "This isn't going to work. We're running out of bullets!"

"Shit," he muttered, taking out the zombie that was in front of him. Quickly, he kicked open the door that led to the fourth floor. He ushered the three of them in before closing it and taking one of the lead pipes lying on the floor to stick in between the handles.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Annabeth yelled over the roaring of the zombies that came from the stairwell.

He didn't respond, pacing up and down the hallway, trying in vain to find another exit. He stopped in front of the broken elevator door and tried to open it. It budged a little bit, but closed again once he stopped applying pressure. Jason quickly stepped in and helped him push it open, wedging it wider than before.

Annabeth could hear the bolts of the door to the stairs loosen under the weight of the several zombies leaning against it. She looked back to see that they had the elevator door halfway open. There was a ladder on the far wall of the elevator shaft that led down to the lobby floor. They wouldn't have enough time to make it down before the zombies came in and ate their flesh.

"We don't have enough time!" she yelled to the others.

"One of you squeeze through and get on the ladder." Jason hollered, using all his strength to keep the door open.

Piper stepped forward without any hesitation and jumped to grab on to the ladder. Quickly, she climbed her way down towards the ground.

"Annabeth, you go!" Percy demanded, out of breath from pushing the heavy elevator doors open. She heeded his advice and hurdled to hold onto the ladder. She looked back at the two boys who were still keeping the door open with all their strength.

"You both have to jump at the same time!" Annabeth said, lowering herself down the ladder slowly. The two boys exchanged glances before she heard the stairwell door break open. Without any more thought, they both soared through the air to grab onto the rungs of the ladder.

Percy slipped and started to fall down the shaft. Annabeth quickly took hold of his wrist and pulled him towards the ladder. A searing pain shot through her shoulder as he took hold of the ladder again. They didn't have any time to spare as they lowered themselves to the bottom of the elevator shaft.

They tried to catch their breath as they stood in the darkness in front of the elevator door. "Count your bullets." He told them. They did as they were told and found that they had a dwindling twelve left. Annabeth put her gun away and pulled out her trusty knife instead, finding that it would be easier to take down zombies with it.

"Once we head out of this door," Percy began, breathing heavily from his near death experience, "we sprint for the van and try to avoid the zombies at all costs." They all nodded in reply. Annabeth tried to slow down her breathing and the beating in her chest. This was a life or death situation and she didn't want to be held back by her anxieties.

"One, two, three!" he yelled as they all pulled open the door. There was just enough room for the four of them to squeeze through. Zombies covered the lobby floor and made their way to their next meal. They followed the plan and sprinted towards the front door, taking out any zombies that tried to grab them.

Jason kicked open the glass door, shattering it to pieces as they made their way towards the car. There were several zombies outside the building, following the noise of the gun shots. Annabeth stabbed one that tried to make a grab for her but she wasn't quick enough to take out the one on the other side.

She tripped and fell to the concrete, twisting her ankle at a painful angle. Before she knew it, the zombie was on top of her and trying to take a bite at her collar bone. She screamed loudly, trying to shove it off of her to no avail. Tears pricked at her eyes as its jaw clamped up and down just inches away from her hair.

A shot rang out and the zombie fell limp on top of her. She started to hyperventilate, pushing the zombie off of her and crawling away. Strong arms pulled her up and grabbed her wrist, dragging her towards the van. She looked up to see Percy practically carrying her the last steps to their escape.

He shoved her into van through the side door before climbing in himself, shouting "Go! Go! Go!"

All of a sudden, the van lurched forward, and made its way away from the zombie invested street. Percy slid the door close finally, slumping against it as he tried to regain his breath. Annabeth lay opposite of him, her arm over her stomach as she tried to calm herself down.

"Yeah!" Jason yelled at the top of his lungs and fist bumped the air, making the others chuckle. Somehow, they had made it out of the ticking time bomb of a building filled with zombies. She felt like crying at their incredibly good luck.

Annabeth tried to sit up, but there was a flash of pain in her shoulder that stopped her from doing so. Percy moved towards her, helping her to sit in a comfortable position. He crawled behind her, lightly prodding at her shoulder. She hissed in pain, flinching away from his tender touch.

"When we get back, we'll get Grover to look at it." He told her, settling down beside her.

Piper sped down the empty road, the van jerking every now and then. Their shoulders brushed occasionally, causing a blush to rise up onto her face. The ride seemed to take longer as she tried to avoid look at him.

"We're back." Piper announced, parking the car alongside the others. Percy got up from his seat and opened the door, helping Annabeth out of the car.

As soon as she took a step towards the warehouse, her ankle let out underneath her and she almost crumbled to the floor if it wasn't for Percy's fast reflexes. Annabeth bit her lip, trying to hold in the scream of pain she was about to release. He made her wrap her arm around his shoulder as he took the weight off her ankle. They limped to the door behind Jason and Piper, the latter of whom opened the securely locked entrance.

Percy kept a tight grip around her waist as he ushered her into one of the nearby rooms. It was one of the bigger rooms in the warehouse; it had three air mattresses lined against the wall with a wooden desk in the corner. There were shelves filled with medical supplies that were categorized into specific groups. It even smelt like a hospital with hand sanitizer and everything.

He lied her down on one of the nearby mattresses and quickly jogged out the door, leaving her alone. The throbbing in her ankle was more prominent and her shoulder felt as if it was on fire. She took deep breaths, trying to keep herself from launching into a panic attack. Now was _not_ the time.

After a minute, Percy returned with a short man who had curly red hair and a small goatee. They walked over to her and helped her sit up against the wall, which she leaned heavily on. All of a sudden, she felt exhausted and she didn't even have the energy to sit up. The curly haired man helped her to turn around so that her back was facing her.

"Could you take your shirt off please?" he asked kindly.

"What?" she asked startled out of her drowsy daze.

She heard him sigh as he went on to explain, "If you want me to look at your shoulder, you're going to have to take your shirt off."

Groaning internally, she took hold of the hem of her sweater and swiftly pulled it over her head, exposing her sports bra. She shivered as the cold air of the room hit her like a thousand bullets. She looked over to see that Percy was standing in the corner, watching the guy tend to her injuries. She quickly looked away, _Didn't he have more important stuff to do than sit here and watch me? _She thought as the curly haired nurse poked her shoulder.

"It seems like you've dislocated your shoulder. I'm going to set it back in place really quick." He told her.

"Wait, wha –"

Before she could finish her sentence, he took a firm grip of her shoulder and snapped it back into place. She let out a quick shriek of pain before she loosely moved her shoulder around. It didn't hurt as much anymore and the dull pain would most likely be gone in the morning.

"Now, about the ankle." The male nurse said, helping her to turn around and face him. She stretched out her left leg for him to take a look at her ankle. He began to touch it, taking note of where she grunted in pain the most. After a few minutes of his ministrations, he pulled back and looked at her, "It seems that you've got a minor sprain in your ankle. If we wrap it up and give you the proper rest, it should be fine in a week or so."

_A week?! _She internally screeched, cursing the terrible timing of the injury. A week without use of her leg? What was she gonna do? Just lie around all day and do nothing as the apocalypse roared on outside? Running her hands through her disheveled hair, she sighed deeply and tried to maintain a level head.

"Do we have all the proper supplies needed to fix up this injury, Grover?" Percy said, reminding Annabeth of his presence.

"Yes, I believe we do." He said, standing up from his position on the mattress to inspect the shelf. He grabbed a few of the supplies and returned to his seat, slowly beginning to work on her swollen ankle. She bit her lip and tried to keep her cries of pain to herself. Never had Annabeth injured herself like this before. Sure, there were cuts and bruises but she _never _sprained or broke anything in her entire life.

After ten minutes of unbearable silence, Grover finished up with the bandaging and clapped his hands together. "Looks like you're ready to go."

A small smile appeared on her face as she stood up, testing how much weight she could put on her ankle. The pain flashed suddenly and shot up her leg, making her wince. Percy noticed and jumped to his feet, preparing to help her walk. "I'm fine," she waved him off, taking another step and dragging her useless ankle along.

"No, you're not." He stated, grabbing her arm and wrapping it around his shoulders. She sighed, thinking that _it wouldn't hurt to let him help me, just this once. _Shaking her head, she realized that not in a million years had she succumbed to help so quickly. Why was this so different?

He helped her out of the room and they started walking down the hallway. It was silent between them with the exception of Annabeth hissing in pain. Percy would look at her, but she would wave him off because she didn't need the pity party.

Percy steered her away from her room and opened a door at the end of hallway that was adjacent to the meeting quarters. He helped her into a folded metal chair that was sitting across from a wooden desk. She looked at him with confusion as he walked around the table and took a seat in a similar metal chair.

"Uh, why am I here and not in my room?" she asked, realizing that she had called the room she was staying in _hers._

"I need your help." He said bluntly, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. "You're obviously a genius – I mean, without you we would never gotten hold of your dad's research."

She ducked her head, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up onto her cheeks. _What the hell is wrong with me?! _She immediately scolded herself, saying that she needed to keep herself in check. She stared into his lovely, sea green eyes and asked, "What do you need my help with?"

"I need help deciphering the research, and since you obviously can't go anywhere for the next week, I thought you could help." He stated, leaning back in the chair.

"Why do you need to decipher the research? I'm sure it would be nearly impossible to conduct any experiments here and I doubt Piper would ever find the supplies to do so." She said, her rational side kicking in.

"Trust me, we have the supplies." She looked at him skeptically, "All I need is your assistance with the research."

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down for a moment. He looked so eager to look through the research and (somehow) start the experiment. It was almost like his life depended on it. _It couldn't hurt to help him, just this once. _What was with her these days? In the apocalypse, you only look after yourself. Now look at her. She's definitely changed since she's come to the warehouse.

She sighed, "Alright, I'll help."


	4. My Body is a Cage

**Chapter 4: **My Body is a Cage

**Rating: **T

**Word Count: **2,000+

**Summary: **Annabeth and Percy grow close as they dig into her father's research. The group is reunited with Nico after several days of his disappearance.

**Author's Note: **Okay, so this chapter is kind of short but there's a lot of crucial information in it. I promise that the next chapter will be longer and this one probably would've been a little bit longer, but I wanted to get something out as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy it anyways and Merry Christmas!

**. . .**

Annabeth sat next to Percy in his office, reading through a stack of papers of her father's research. There were several symbols and equations that were hard to decipher and it took them hours to figure out what they meant. She glanced over at her partner in crime who was reading through a separate stack of papers.

She smiled slightly before turning back to her work. Over the past few days, the pair has been holed up in his office for most of the day going over the research. Being in such close proximity for hours on end, Annabeth began to feel comfortable around Percy. He was a lot smarter than she initially thought. It was surprising to see that he didn't need her to spell out everything for him.

He set the papers down and leaned back in the metal seat, running his hands over his face. Annabeth continued to read on, knowing that from time to time Percy needed to take breaks. She could feel his eyes on her as she read but she chose to ignore it. Of course, now she couldn't focus much on her own work because whenever he looked at her, she grew nervous.

Finally, she set down the papers and looked at him, "Did you find anything?"

He shook his head solemnly, sinking farther down into his seat, "I don't get it. They keep trying different things but nothing seems to be working."

"That's why it's called trial and error." She lightly teased, although there was a hint of frustration behind her words. It was agitating to be stuck in a room all day, analyzing research and coming up with nothing. Her father must have gotten _somewhere _with the research. Knowing her father, he must have found something of value or else he would have gone back to California.

They sat there in silence, pondering why the research was so useless. It was a tricky case, but there should be some type of pattern by now. All the experiments led to dead ends. It didn't make sense to Annabeth; they were a team of elite scientists – they should have found _something. _

"Alright," Percy sighed, snapping her out of her thoughts, "let's go get some dinner and then we can pick up where we left off."

She nodded, slowly standing up and stretching. Without a word, Percy wrapped her arm around his shoulder and helped her to walk out of the office and into the dining quarters. At first, Annabeth had protested these actions as much as possible because she didn't want to seem weak. But Percy was persistent and she finally caved, letting him help her walk.

"Hey Perce!" Jason called from the other end of the table, waving for the duo to come over. They made their way over to Jason and Piper who were already halfway through their meals. It seemed that Grover was serving some type of meat with what looked like mashed potatoes. Annabeth tried not to think too much about it as she took her seat in between Percy and Thalia.

"So how's the research coming?" Piper asked quietly. The four had agreed to keep the research on the down low for now. They didn't want anyone to be suspicious of their actions and start some sort of uprising.

Percy sighed, running his hands through his disheveled hair. When he didn't respond, Annabeth stated, "We haven't found anything yet. It's just a lot of trial and error right now."

Jason and Piper sighed, disappointed with the lack of results. They all were hoping that the research would be a quick way to the cure but it obviously wouldn't be that easy. Everyone continued to eat in silence as they eavesdropped on some of the conversations from the other end of the table. Mostly they were about what had transpired in the day and some were sharing stories about the past.

"What's been going on around here?" Percy asked, breaking the silence.

"Nothing really, Frank suggested that we need more weaponry and Leo said that we might need some new light bulbs soon." Jason said.

Percy nodded and looked at Piper, "How's the scavenging going?"

She sighed, fidgeting with the utensils, "I haven't found anything of value lately. Finding new weapons and light bulbs seems impossible right now."

"I'm sure you'll be able to find something." Percy encouraged. Piper didn't say anything in response, knowing that he was just being kind.

It was silent again amongst the four as they sat and thought. Lately, it seemed that they were at a dead end. Nothing was progressing and it felt like they were taking steps backwards and not forwards. Annabeth felt annoyed with this thought, wanting nothing more than for this to be over.

"Also," Piper started, gaining everyone's attention, "I saw _them_ again, in town."

She heard Percy take a sharp intake of breath as he leaned back in his seat, "Did they approach you?"

"No, I was hidden. They couldn't see me." She replied.

"Wait, who are we talking about?" Annabeth asked. If there were other people besides themselves, maybe they were looking for a cure as well. And if they had information, then they could possibly put two and two together to get the result they all needed.

"What the hell are they doing here again? I thought we lost them." Jason grunted, not pleased with what Piper had said.

"I don't know, but as long as they know that we are not here we should be fine." Percy said.

"Wait, what is going on here?" Annabeth asked, exasperated with the lack of answers she was receiving.

"It doesn't affect you." Percy said dismissively. She decided not to press on; she could ask him again later when they were alone and people couldn't possibly eavesdrop on them.

Thalia turned to Percy, "Have you noticed that Nico has been gone longer than usual?"

"Uh no, why?" he asked, leaving the other topic behind.

"He's been gone for days. What if he got bitten?" she said, worry evident in her voice.

"I'm sure he's fine, Thalia. Don't worry, Nico is one of toughest guys I know." He said, giving her a reassuring smile. She scowled and turned back to her dinner, not pushing on with the matter.

They sat together for a little while longer, discussing each other's days. Soon, everyone began to disperse back to their stations, leaving the four alone at the table. No words were spoken as they all got up from their places and headed off to their respective jobs. Percy helped Annabeth limp back into his office and sit down in her seat.

Annabeth couldn't bear to keep her questions in any longer, "Who were you talking about earlier?"

Percy sighed, hoping that she would let the subject drop. Knowing her though, it wouldn't be that easy. "It isn't a big deal."

"Don't pull that shit with me, Percy. I know it must be important, otherwise you wouldn't have looked so anxious back at dinner." She spat out, wishing that he would just tell her the truth.

He sighed, "Look, I think it's best if you don't know. They'll be out of our hair soon anyways and everyone will forget that they were here." She stared at him for a long moment, searching his sea green eyes. She could see the worry in his irises and she knew that he was hiding something from her. If she kept pushing, he wasn't going to tell her.

She relented, picking up her stack of papers. She started where she left off, with the third experimentation that they were trying. After a while, she heard Percy pick up his papers and do the same. They sat in silence for a few more hours, occasionally pointing out something interesting in the research to one another. Annabeth held back a yawn and covered her hand with her mouth.

"You should go to bed. We've had a long day and I think we've made some progress." He told her. She looked at him skeptically; they both knew that they had gotten nowhere today.

Slowly, she got up from her seat and instinctively wrapped her arm around his shoulder. They walked towards the door when it suddenly flung open, hitting Annabeth in the face. She grasped her nose tightly, feeling the sting tingling on the left side of her face.

She looked up and saw a boy standing in the doorway. He had dark hair and matching dark clothes. If Annabeth didn't know better, he looked like the psychotic boy from any horror movie that killed everyone. She noticed that he was also staring her down, as if she was some type of rodent.

"Nico," Percy started, stepping aside to let him into his office, "it's good to see you."

He mutely nodded, stepping in and taking the seat opposite of the desk. Percy looked over at Annabeth, realizing that she was still attached to his hip, "Do you still want me to take you back to your room?"

"No, it's fine," she said letting go of her nose. She could feel the bruise coming on already and she knew that it wasn't going to be pretty in the morning. He helped her back into her seat as he sat down adjacent to her.

"I see you've found a new right-hand man. Or should I say woman." Nico said, a smirk playing at his lips. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him; he was _not_ making a good first impression on her.

Percy glanced at her out of the corner of his eye but decided not to say anything, "Where have you been? Thalia's been worried about you. Today, she said that you might have turned."

He laughed, "Really? Does she not know _me_?" Annabeth cocked her head at this; he looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Like, there wasn't death around every corner, waiting to suffocate you. It unnerved her and as each minute passed, she began to like him less and less.

"Nico, seriously, where did you go? You were gone for almost a week." Percy asked.

"I was just inspecting the area, trying to find any information." He replied.

"Did you find any?" Percy asked eagerly, hope evident in his voice.

Nico shook his head and Percy sighed, disappointed with the answer. It was silent amongst the trio as Annabeth continued to stare Nico down. He was covered in dirt and his hair was messily covering one of his eyes. He smelled of zombie guts and fertilizer and there was a long stain of blood on his shirt. _Where did he really go? He obviously wasn't just taking a walk in the park, _Annabeth pondered, searching his face for any indication of what he was hiding.

"Could you tell her to stop looking at me? It's making me nervous." He joked, turning his gaze towards her. She narrowed his eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "How did she even get here anyways?"

"I was surviving on my own until Thalia and Piper found me." She answered.

"Ah, so she talks." Nico teased, smirking at her. She glared at him coldly, not liking him one bit. "I'm impressed that you were able to survive on your own for so long. You don't seem like the type to know how to fight."

"Is it because I'm a girl?" she asked coldly.

He chuckled but did not answer. He turned to Percy and said, "Anyways, I thought you should know Luke and his group are back in town. And they look like they're here to stay."

Percy gasped, taken aback by the information. Annabeth turned to look at him, wondering why he was so nervous about Luke or whatever. His grip on his desk tightened, turning his knuckles white and he gritted his teeth. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed at even the mention of Luke's name.

"Did they see you?" he asked stiffly.

"I doubt it." Nico scoffed, leaning back in the metal chair.

It was deadly silent in the office again as Annabeth looked between the two. Nico seemed to be smirking cockily at Percy's obvious discomfort. It made Annabeth wonder whose side he was really on. Why didn't Nico seemed as scared as Percy about the new group in town? If Percy was afraid of them, then they definitely were not a force to be reckoned with.

"I just wanted to let you know that they were here. I'm gonna go back out in a week or two, so I'll look into it when I go. See if they're still hanging around." Percy merely nodded as Nico stood up. "It was good to see you again, Perce. And it was a pleasure meeting you –"

"Annabeth." She said.

"Right, Annabeth." He smiled at her unnervingly before he turned around and exited the premise.

Percy and Annabeth sat in silence for a while, thinking on all that Nico had said. He was an _odd_ one. He seemed so calm all the freaking time and that made Annabeth nervous. It looked like he wasn't afraid of anything, even though the apocalypse had to be the scariest fucking shit she's ever encountered. Of course, Nico looked like the kind of guy who used to live for this kind of stuff.

It also seemed that Percy had a good amount of faith in him. The way he talked about him during dinner made it look like Percy highly respected him. Even now, he took Nico's words to heart and didn't doubt anything he said. Annabeth wondered what he could've possibly done to gain his trust. There was something about him that was off, but if Percy trusted him, then Annabeth would too.


	5. Bottom of the River

**Chapter 5: **Bottom of The River

**Rating: **T

**Word Count: **3,600 +

**Summary: **A week after Annabeth's encounter with Nico, Piper and she are sent out to retrieve some medical supplies. They soon find out that their little base isn't the only thing still trying to survive.

**Author's Note: **I apologize profusely for taking over three months to update. I was so caught up with school and friends and therapy that I kind of forgot to update. Plus, I had to revise this chapter quite a bit. But I want to say thank you all for keeping your faith in me, even though I was an asshole and didn't update until now. You can come over and tee-pee my house, I give you permission. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Another important one because it introduces a few new characters. Thanks for reading!

**. . .**

It has been a week since Nico arrived back at the base and Annabeth still got chills when he smirked at her. Apparently, everyone _loved _Nico and was so relieved that he returned from… well, wherever he was. Even Thalia seemed to have an extra pep in her step whenever she spotted Nico in the warehouse. Still, there was something unnervingly wrong about him, like he was hiding something. She tried to let it go – she _really _did, for the sake of her sanity – but every time she caught him snooping around or looking the slightest bit mischievous, she began to worry again.

As she sat on a cot in the infirmary room, she saw Nico enter the generator room. No one really went into that room unless they needed Leo for something. _Maybe he needs a new light bulb for his room, _her conscious tried to reassure herself. But whenever Nico was involved, there was _always _an ulterior motive.

"All done!" Grover exclaimed, breaking her from her trance. She looked down at her ankle, which was clean of all the gauze and tape from her injury. There was only a slight bruise a little bit above her ankle and she was able to wiggle it around without screaming in pain. Finally, she could be of some use to the team again.

"Thanks, Grover." She said genuinely, hopping off the cot and pacing around the small room to test it out.

"No problem. Now, it's still healing a little bit so don't try to over exert yourself, okay?" he told her, crossing his arms over his chest in a business-like manner.

"Okay." She responded. Honestly, she was just glad that she could be up and moving without having Jason or Percy to drag her around all the time. She exited the premises and thought about returning to her room until she looked over at the generator room. She hadn't seen Nico exit and he had been in there for a good ten minutes. What was he trying to do?

Cautiously, Annabeth crept down the hallway towards the room, looking around every so often to make sure that no one was around and watching her. She quietly eased open the door and closed it behind her carefully, hoping not to make any noise. All she could hear was the whizzing and pounding ruckus that the generators were making which could easily hide her footsteps. Turning around, she saw Nico with his back facing her in the corner, overlooking one of the machines. Leo was nowhere in sight – odd, seeing how he practically lived up here. Hence, the mattress and tooth brush in the corner.

She walked up next to him and looked at the generator. It was the same as all the other generators, so she didn't really see the big deal in it. Nico was a peculiar one: he went out into the apocalypse _for fun, _he somehow was best friends with everyone in here (even though he was kind of a creep), and in his spare time he came up here to stare at _generators. _Maybe the apocalypse had gotten to him and made him insane.

"You guys are really lucky, you know?" he stated, out of the blue. Annabeth's heart leapt out of her chest at his sudden words, scaring her half to death, "Leo's such a smart guy to take generators from places and use the remaining juice in 'em. I hope you guys don't lose him."

There was something off putting about what he said. Maybe it was because he was talking about Leo's death as if it were a pawn on his chess board. Or maybe it was the way he addressed the base like he wasn't really a part of it. All Annabeth wanted were answers, and this guy was being vague and aloof. And that was annoying.

"You don't really like me, do you?" he asked bluntly, turning to look at her. She was positive his eyes were as black as his soul. After watching her expression, he chuckled, "Yeah, I didn't think you would, Newbie. After all, I am best friends with your boyfriend, and that _must _threaten you."

"He's not my boyfriend." She told him, her thoughts drifting to Percy for a brief moment until Nico spoke again.

"I don't know what I did to make you feel so uneasy around me, but you can trust me. I would never do anything to hurt this place." He said looking her dead on so she knew that there was no place for bullshit in his words. The sudden shift in mood took her by surprise and now, she was anxious.

"I guess you don't really speak, then." He commented off-handedly, resuming his previous demeanor. His eyes flickered back to the machines in front of him before he turned around and headed for the door. Before he exited, he turned back and said, "Annabeth, you can _trust_ me."

She wasn't so sure about that.

Leo entered a moment later, looking glad to see her, "Hey! Nico said you'd be in here. Dinner's ready."

They both traveled down to the mess hall where her designated seat was saved next to Percy, albeit he was missing currently. She took her seat and greeted Piper and Jason, who were talking quietly to each other. After her discussion with Nico, she lost her appetite. There was just something _off _about Nico that it was unsettling and made her nervous. How could they know for sure that he was to be trusted? _Annabeth, it's just you. Everyone else loves the guy! _Her conscious reminded her.

Shaking her head, she rid herself of her cryptic thoughts and joined in on the conversation surrounding her until Percy entered the cafeteria. He caught her eye and gave her a small wave before grabbing a plate filled to the brim with food. He touched the small of her back before he sat down, "How's the ankle?"

"Officially out of its cast." She replied proudly, moving her ankle around under the table just to get used to the feeling of it.

"That's great!" he told her, shoving his food into his mouth sloppily. Annabeth absentmindedly played with her hair as everyone else around her ate their dinners cheerfully. All of a sudden, she saw Nico appear and make a bee-line straight for Percy. _Couldn't this guy leave them alone for a minute? _She thought, irritated just at the sight of him.

"Hey, Nico!" Percy greeted loudly, standing up from his seat and giving the short guy a bro-hug. "What's up?"

"I think it's time for me to head out again." He stated, suddenly glancing at Annabeth like she was supposed to pick up on some secret message.

"What? You've only been here for a week! At least stay another night?" Percy pleaded with Nico, although he seemed pretty dead set about leaving _right now. _

"Nah, I think it'd be better if I left now. It'll be easier for me to hide in the dark." He explained, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He kept glancing over at Annabeth like she was supposed to do or say something. Last time she checked, she didn't owe him any favors.

"True." Percy conceded with a sigh, patting him on the shoulder, "Alright, but next time come back sooner. We need you around here."

"Don't worry, I will." He assured Percy, bringing him in for one last hug. "I'll see you guys around," he said to this half of the table who bid their goodbyes to him kindly. He looked at her one last time before saying, "Annabeth."

Then without a moment of hesitation he whipped around and left. _What the hell? _She thought, confusion racing throughout her mind. What did he want from her? She hadn't done anything and now all of a sudden, they were in cahoots of some sort? Truthfully, Annabeth was just glad he was finally gone so now things could go back to how they were before he barged in.

Percy sat down at his seat, continuing to eat his food like that weird exchange hadn't just happened. Grover came over suddenly and crouched down to speak with him softly, "Hey, we ran out of some medicine and supplies that we really need. Also, Hazel said that she needed a few items as well that were crucial to something she's working on."

Percy nodded dutifully, "I'll see what I can do." Grover handed him a list, and just like that, he retreated back into the kitchen. He quickly looked over the list and then gave it to Piper, "Do you think you could go on a run tomorrow morning?"

Piper's face immediately dropped and anxiety etched its way onto her face, "Sure, why not?" she laughed it off, but Annabeth knew that she was scared out of her mind every time she had to go out there by herself. Fastest runner or not, Piper also had to be fearless and that was hard to achieve when dead bodies were waltzing around trying to eat your face.

"I'd like to go, too." Annabeth volunteered without thinking. They turned to her and she rambled on, "I could use the exercise. I've been holed up in here for the past week. I'd figure that I could help _somehow_."

"That'd be great, Annabeth." Percy said, squeezing her forearm gently. Already, the tension in Piper's shoulders was released and she smiled gratefully at Annabeth. After a while, everyone began to leave the dining hall, leaving the three and Jason to sit at the table alone for a while. They talked casually about whatever came to mind, although she knew that Percy was dying to ask her something.

"I'm going to bed." She stated, standing up and pushing her chair back.

"I'll go with you." Percy said, following her as she exited the hall, leaving Piper and Jason to their own defenses. They walked in silence until they reached the janitor's closet that was her sad excuse for a room. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to say what he needed to say.

"Annabeth," he began, scratching the back of his neck fretfully.

"Yes?" she said, trying to ease it out of him.

He breathed deeply before he blurted out, "I really don't want you to go out with Piper tomorrow." Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he continued, "I just don't think it's the safest thing. Piper's always done the best on her own and you just got out of you cast. I was talking to Grover earlier and he said that you should rest here for another day or two before you go doing your crazy stunts."

"Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief, her feelings caught between anger and affinity towards him. It was sweet that he cared so much, but she could handle herself. Need she remind him that she was out in the apocalypse for several months on her own before finding this place? And besides, she was doing this for Piper who was scared shitless every time she was asked to go retrieve something for the base.

"Look, I just –"

"Trust me, Percy. I can do this. I won't hurt myself, although you and Grover think that's all I ever do," she muttered the last part, seeing as how the two seemed a little overprotective of her. "Piper's going to be there with me so she can help me out if I get in a bind. Don't worry." She said the last part gently, reaching out and rubbing his shoulders, hoping to calm him down.

"You're right." He said simply, nodding his head and looking her in the eye. She realized that she was still rubbing his shoulders so she pulled away hastily.

"I'm just gonna go to bed now." She said awkwardly, embarrassed that she had been feeling up Percy. What was _with_ her lately?

"See you in the morning, then." He said quietly, turning away to stalk down the hall to his room. Closing the door behind her, she flopped down onto the air mattress, exhausted from the day's events – and strangely wishing that Percy was here with her as she drifted off to sleep.

. . .

Piper woke her up the next morning, bright and early. Well, maybe not bright but _definitely _early. Annabeth pulled on her favorite sweater over her sports bra and slipped on a pair of jeans before getting up to join her in the mess hall. Percy was waiting there with Piper already; they were looking over a map and Piper was circling places they could travel to pick up the items they needed.

"Morning sunshine," Percy teased with a cheeky smile. She glared at him, deciding to stand next to Piper to look over the map. She was circling destinations that were really far out, more than five miles away from here.

"Why are we going so far out?" Annabeth asked, pointing to a pharmacy that was at least seven miles away from the base.

"We've used up most of the resources within a five mile radius. And plus, Hazel wants some out-of-this-world crap that we aren't going to find locally. We might be gone an extra day to find it because apparently it's crucial to something she's working on." Piper explained folding up the map and shoving it into her backpack.

Grover came out of the kitchen with two silver capsules before handing them to Piper, "Chicken noodle soup, in case you get stuck out there for whatever reason."

This definitely didn't seem like an ordinary scavenging hunt to Annabeth. This one must be important or challenging or something because Piper was usually expected to be back at the base in two to three hours, tops. Not taking an overnight trip for bed and breakfast out in the apocalypse. Thinking about it now, maybe she shouldn't have volunteered to do this. Twenty-four hours out there with little support for her ankle would drain her of her sanity, she was sure. But Piper _needed _her and she wasn't just about to back down now.

"You guys know what to do?" Percy asked, his eyes lingering on Annabeth before switching over to look at Piper.

"We got it, chief. You shouldn't worry so much." Piper joked, nudging him in the shoulder. She passed Annabeth the duffle that held what she assumed to be the weapons and the ammunition.

"I made sure Frank packed a couple extra hand guns just in case." Percy interjected, glancing down at the bag.

"You seem to be pulling out all the stops for this one mission. I wonder why." Piper commented nonchalantly. She stared long and hard at Percy before turning away, tugging Annabeth along with her.

"Expect us here by tomorrow evening at the latest. If we're not, well…" Piper trailed off, tucking her hair behind her ear self-consciously, "don't wait up."

With that, they headed toward the entrance of the warehouse, nodding to the guards to be released. The sun blinded Annabeth for a moment until she gauged her surroundings. Piper was heading to the old, blue pickup truck where she threw her backpack into the bed of it. She followed suit and stepped into the passenger side of the vehicle.

The ride was silent as they drove the twenty minutes to the pharmacy that had been circled on their trusty map. Piper could drive really fast when she needed to get some place; she had hit the eighty mark and was still increasing speed. Gripping the arm rests on the car seat, she prayed that a car accident wouldn't be the thing to kill her now.

Eventually, the car started to slow down when they got in the vicinity of the store. Piper put the car in park before hopping out and grabbing her backpack, gun in hand. Annabeth watched as she sprinted to the entrance of the store, looking around to make sure there weren't any undead there to get her. In a flash, she was gone into the store. She quickly got out of the truck, grabbing the duffle from the bed and zipping it open, pulling out a rifle before placing it back where she found it.

"Ah, look what we got here." A masculine voice called from behind her. She whipped around, gun aimed at the source of the sound. There stood a couple – a boy and a girl – simply staring her down. The girl looked menacing enough, with her pale skin and dark eyes that bore into Annabeth's soul. The boy, however, was another story. He looked kind, with his tousled blonde hair and warm eyes. His smile was easy-going, as if he spotted her at the club instead of the middle of an abandoned road.

She wasn't going to take any chances, so she kept her gun trained on them, "Who are you?"

"Don't worry, we're friends. We're not going to hurt you, unless you're bitten of course." The boy said calmly, placing his hands up in the air in a surrendering sort of gesture. The girl retained her intimidating stance, with her arms crossed and her hip jutted out.

Slowly, she lowered her rifle and released some of the tension in her shoulders, "It's so _weird _–"

"Yeah, I know." The boy chuckled, lowering his hands, "We thought we were the only ones left for a while, too." He cautiously took a step towards her and introduced himself, "I'm Luke, and this is my right-hand girl, Reyna."

_Luke. _That had a familiar ring to it. She was sure that she had heard it before. Maybe it was one of the names of the many people back at the base – she still hadn't learned everyone's names yet. Reaching forward, she took his warm hand and shook it. His smile had her heart fluttering and she couldn't help but smile back. "I'm Annabeth."

"Luke," Reyna called, glancing at Annabeth before returning her gaze to him, "I think it's time we left."

"Right," Luke nodded in agreement, turning back to her and offering another one of his infamous smiles, "you're welcome to come with us. We have a whole group a few miles west of here. There's room for one more, if you're up for it."

"Actually –"

Annabeth was cut off by a piercing gun shot that hit the pavement right next to where Luke stood. Luke and Reyna pulled out their weapons and aimed at the source of the uproar: Piper.

"Piper, what the _hell_ was that?" she said. Because of that gun shot, the undead could waltz out here any moment, meaning they would only have seconds to flee.

"They can't be trusted." Piper warned, keeping her gun aimed at them – or more specifically, _Luke_.

"Ooh, that's a little harsh Piper." Luke taunted; his easy-going smile was now replaced with a devious smirk and his gun was pointed directly at Piper's head. "I thought we were friends."

"Like hell!" Piper spat, clicking the safety off her gun.

"Where's your little boyfriend? I actually kind of liked him. He was… _feisty._" Reyna jeered, smirking condescendingly at Piper.

"Why? Not getting some from your partner in crime over there?" Piper shot back, a self-satisfied smile finding its way onto her face.

"I oughta…!" Reyna started to march over with her knife, ready to take Piper down. Luke held her back, thankfully. Annabeth was afraid that Piper was about to blow her brains out right then and there.

"Hey, we don't mean any trouble." Luke pleaded, placing his hands up.

"Please, you always bring trouble when you're around." Piper stated, easing back with her gun and relaxing her stance.

He smirked and lowered his hands. Suddenly, Annabeth was being put into a head lock by Reyna as Luke grabbed the bag full of ammunition out of the truck. She felt the knife being held up to her throat, barely scratching at the skin there. She couldn't breathe, afraid that the knife would pierce her skin or worse, kill her.

"Let us go with this," he raised up his arm, gesturing to the duffle, "and we won't hurt your precious little friend here." Luke tormented, standing behind Reyna so he wouldn't get shot by Piper. She looked like a deer caught in headlights; her eyes were wide and she was frozen in her place. Gradually, she kneeled down and dropped her gun, kicking it away so the duo wouldn't feel threatened. "That's a good girl," he sneered.

"Now, you –"

Before he could say anymore, Annabeth spat in his face and screamed, "You're a coward!" She felt Reyna's blade dig into her skin, causing her to hold her breath and try not to hyperventilate.

He wiped the spit of his face and smiled demonically at her, "I hope we meet again someday, _sweet_ Annabeth. And I hope it's _me _that gets to kill you."

With that, she was shoved to the ground by Reyna as they fled the scene, disappearing down an alley way. Piper hurried over to her, helping her up from her position on the ground. Wrapping her in a hug, she began to ramble, "I'm so sorry, Annabeth. We should've gone in there together. I thought you were right behind me, I swear!"

"Piper, it's fine. At least no one got hurt." She responded her throat sore and her voice coming out in a whisper from the choke hold.

"Come on, we have to get back to base and tell Percy everything." She said, climbing into the driver's seat of the truck with her backpack seated in the middle. Annabeth got in after her, holding her throat. When she pulled back, her fingers were covered in red.

"What about the other supplies?" she croaked as Piper turned the key in the ignition.

"That can wait." Piper said curtly, wheeling away from the store and back towards the warehouse, "This isn't going to be good."


	6. Radioactive

**Chapter 6: **Radioactive

**Rating: **T

**Word Count: **2,200 +

**Summary: **Percy has to inform the base of the impending threat that Luke's group brings. Annabeth must come up with a plan of action to keep the warehouse and, more importantly, the people inside safe.

**Author's Note: **Wow, an update so soon? Even I'm surprised. I don't know what possessed me to write this up so quickly, but I did it! It beats having to work on my research paper that's due sometime soon. Anyways, this is a bit of a filler but there is a little bit of character development and some background information on important topics. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading!

**. . .**

"He _what?!_"

Annabeth cringed at the sheer volume of Percy's voice as Piper relayed everything that happened with Luke's group. Her throat had been patched up with some gauze and tape, which made it feel funny to talk so she decided to remain silent through the whole exchange. As soon as he saw Piper and her in their disheveled state, he immediately called them to his office and commanded Jason to take over the warehouse for the next couple of hours.

She sat behind the desk as Percy paced back and forth between the girls, running his hands through his tangled, dark locks of hair. If they weren't in such a dire situation, Annabeth might have found him attractive, what with his tousled hair and shining blue eyes. But that wasn't important right now. What was important was trying to calm him down and find a safe course of action that wouldn't endanger anyone.

Piper gulped, obviously discomforted by the anxiety that Percy was portraying in front of her. She wrung her hands nervously, stuttering as she continued, "And then, they stole the ammunition you gave us. All we have left is a pair of hand guns and the rifle that Annabeth had."

At the mention of my name, his gaze flickered towards me, dropping to the bandage on my neck before returning to meet my eyes. He quickly looked away and back at Piper before nodding mutely. He took his palms and dug them into his eyes, trying to calm himself she presumed. Just looking at him made her tense; his shoulders were hunched and you could see a hint of fear in his eyes whenever the other group was mentioned. It was unnerving because Percy was supposed to be the leader, the role model for everyone. It was hard not to feel hopeless when your leader was breaking down right in front of you.

"Thank you, Piper. You should get some rest, you've had a tough day. I'll talk to Hazel about the supplies later. You just go to your quarters." He dismissed her kindly, trying to flash her a genuine smile. She obviously wasn't buying it because her gaze glanced uncertainly at Annabeth before she exited the premises.

As soon as the door closed, Percy plopped down into the chair across from her, his shoulders sagging with stress. Annabeth felt sorry for him – he probably didn't _want _the responsibility to take care of all these people. But he wasn't just about to abandon them after everything.

"Are _you _okay?" Percy asked out of the blue, vaguely gesturing to the gauze that was glued to her throat at the moment.

"I'm fine," she replied weakly, "just a little startled is all. I thought that we were supposed to be making friends with other humans, not becoming enemies. The zombies are our main enemies, we don't need people like us turning against us, too."

"It's not that simple when it comes to Luke." Percy sighed, straightening up in his chair and kicking his legs up to rest on the edge of the desk.

"Yeah, I can obviously see that." Annabeth muttered, running her fingers through her knotty, curly hair. "What's the big deal anyways? Why does he hate your guts?"

"He thinks that I did something horrible." He uttered so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

"What does he think you did?" she asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

"That's not important," he declared, waving off the matter completely, "what matters is that we need to keep our base fortified against Luke and his gang until they leave the area, which could take who knows how long."

Annabeth rubbed her temple with her forefinger, trying to formulate a plan. Obviously, this place had a high security system, considering it was a zombie apocalypse. They shouldn't be worried about them getting into here, but more so of them leaving their base and becoming vulnerable to any and all attacks that Luke's group might initiate.

"Well, I definitely don't think that we should send Piper out on any more missions unless it's an absolute emergency, like we're all dying or something. And maybe Leo could do something to boost the security around here. All I know is that we should lay low until things die down between us and them." Annabeth stated, watching as Percy keenly listened to every word she said.

"That sounds reasonable." Percy said after she finished her thoughts. He obviously wasn't too eager to stay inside the base and hold off anymore researching time, but he knew it would be worth it to keep their people safe.

"I know it's not a perfect solution, but it's a start." Annabeth commented, almost directly reading his thoughts. "We need to know where they stand, whether it's against us or with us. And it's not going to help if we ambush and go all out on them."

"You're right, you're right." He sighed, visibly relaxing. His jaw unclenched and his shoulders dropped as he twisted his neck from side to side. She studied him meticulously, watching the way his hair fell into his deep, green eyes. The way his battered, old shirt hung loosely around his torso but hugged his biceps firmly. His hands were constantly fidgeting and the balls of his feet were bouncing up and down nervously.

Without thinking, she took a hold of his hand and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze, "We're going to find a way out of this, I promise."

His face broke into a bright and beautiful smile, making Annabeth's heart stutter, "I don't know what I would do without you." Her face immediately flushed at his endearing words and she ducked her head, praying that he hadn't seen. Shyly, she glanced up at him and saw the tender, serious face he wore. His eyes searched hers for a moment before opening his mouth to say something –

"Dinner!" Jason shouted from the hall, rallying up the troops for Grover's supper of whatever was left in the kitchen that could be made edible. Percy rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, quickly standing up and gesturing to the door of his office.

"We should go." He stated, clearing his throat. He wouldn't look her directly in the eye, instead letting his gaze roam around the room and stare anywhere _but _her. She nodded timidly, pushing past him to exit and trudge over to the dining hall where half the warehouse was already waiting. Percy showed up a few minutes later, already back to his normal self.

What the _hell_ happened in there? Annabeth had never seen Percy look so solemn in the time she had known him. Had she said something? All she was trying to do was comfort him and tell him that everything was going to be okay. Of course, she didn't necessarily _believe _that, but that didn't mean it wasn't intended to calm him down. Her heart fluttered nervously as he took his seat at the head of the table and offered her a smile before he dug into his dinner.

Annabeth shook off the strange feeling and began to eat her dinner as well. It consisted of a hearty serving of spam, green beans, and some sort of Jello-type substance. She had to admit that Grover was able to make all this usually disgusting food into an appetizing meal; she could've never whipped this stuff up on her own, even back before the apocalypse when there were proper kitchen appliances.

Suddenly, Percy stood up with a knife in one hand and his glass in the other. He tapped the knife to the glass, creating a ringing sound that resounded through the whole mess hall and effectively silenced everyone.

"Everyone! May I please have your attention!" he commanded, causing all of the chatter and side talk to stop as he made his announcement. "I wanted to let you all know that Luke is back in town and he's looking to stay for a while."

There were several gasps from around the table as well as a few confused glances as he continued, "As a precaution, no one is allowed to exit the warehouse unless specifically told to do so by myself or Jason. If anyone leaves without warrant, you will not be accepted back in. Until Luke's group is gone, these are the rules we have to live by to keep the warehouse and everyone in it safe."

His declaration ended abruptly with him plopping back down in his seat, resuming his meal like that whole scene had never happened. Murmuring broke out amongst the crowd, causing an uneasy tension to fall over the mess hall. Jason slapped Percy in the shoulder, looking a little bit pissed off.

"Dude! What the hell! Thanks for informing me about that little rule change!" Jason whispered harshly.

"You and I both know that Luke is not a force to be reckoned with. Are you opposed to the change?"

"Well, no but –"

"Then, it's settled. No one will leave this warehouse unless it's an emergency." He declared definitively, ending all arguments.

Thalia wasn't having any of that though, "Don't you think that's going to drive everyone insane? If people feel trapped here, they're going to start to revolt and riot."

"Look, I'm sure Luke will be out of our hair before any of that even cross their minds." Percy said. It sounded like he was reassuring himself more so than he was comforting Thalia.

"Percy, we need a plan of action. We can't just idly sit by and wait for Luke to attack us. The plan that you've come up with for the time being is fine, but it's only going to last a few days. We need to come up with an idea."

All of a sudden, everyone turned to look at Annabeth who was poking at her Jello to make sure if it was actually eatable. She glanced up from her food, startled at all the attention, "What?"

"Annabeth, we need to come up with a plan and you're our only hope." Jason said bluntly, his blue eyes pleading with her.

"Why me? Anyone can come up with a plan!" she said defensively, really not wanting for the weight of the warehouse to be on her shoulders.

"You're good at this kind of stuff!" Thalia exclaimed, nudging her shoulder, "Remember at the pharmacy? You came up with our escape plan when all those zombies came out of nowhere."

"Yeah, and you came up with this whole lockdown idea," Percy added, gleaming at her proudly.

"If anyone can come up with a successful plan, it's you." Piper said, earning a chorus of agreement from their half of the table. As she glanced around, she saw the imploring looks on everyone's faces. They were so desperate to get out of this situation that even the idea of denying their proposal pained her.

"Alright, I'll do it." she responded, albeit reluctantly. Relief broke out among the group as everyone expressed their gratitude towards her. She tried to smile encouragingly at them, but she was sure it came off as a grimace. After everyone finished their meals, they departed from the mess hall and turned in for the night. Annabeth hastily caught up with Leo before he could get away from her.

"What's up, senorita?" he asked flirtatiously, wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.

She rolled her eyes but grinned all the same, "I was wondering if there was anything else you could do about the security system in the warehouse?"

"Like what?" he asked, a glint of eagerness in his eyes. She could already tell that he was excited about the prospect of a new project that could potentially benefit the warehouse.

"I don't know, something to make it more secure. I don't want to take any chances with Luke's group wandering around doing who knows what." She told him, crossing her arms as the draft picked up in the hall.

"Well, I could add some more features to the lock on the door of the entrance. Like, maybe I could put a camera to snap a picture or –"

"Sounds great, Leo. Just anything that can keep the base even safer would be amazing." Annabeth said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. He smirked widely, turning around and practically sprinting to his workshop to begin the new adjustments on the security system.

The exhaustion finally kicked in as she trudged to her room and kicked open the door. Flopping onto her thin mattress, she sighed longingly and closed her eyes. She didn't have the slightest idea where to begin in coming up with an idea to stop the potential threat that was Luke. Defense was her strong suit; offense was a whole other story that Annabeth didn't even want to dive into. But here she was, forcing herself to come up with a plan of action for the sake of others.

She rolled onto her back, throwing her arm over her eyes and wrapping her other arm around her waist. The gauze on her neck itched uncomfortably as she breathed in out. She desired so badly to rip it from her skin, but she knew that would only make her injury worse. If she could go back, she would make sure that Luke and his little girlfriend Reyna would pay for the stunt they pulled earlier that day.

As sleep slowly overtook her, she began to imagine a world where she had to fight both zombies and humans.


End file.
